ampaign which never ceases. It
takes its members on excursions to seaports to see the ships; it holds
exhibitions throughout the country with pictures and lecturers; it
supports seamen's homes, and helps to equip boys wishing to enter the
navy; it lends its encouragement to the two school-ships which are
partly supported from public funds; it sees to it that war-ships are
named after provinces and cities, creating a friendly rivalry among
them; and lately, out of its surplus funds, it has presented a gun-boat
to the nation.

The leading spirit of this organization is Admiral von Tirpitz, at
present the German secretary of the navy and probably the most
dangerous mischief-maker in Europe. In addition to this work a
campaign is waged in the press for the increase of the navy, in which
a number of experts are engaged. I have been told by Germans who ought
to know, but who deprecate this exciting campaigning, that the press
is so largely influenced by Admiral von Tirpitz and his corps of
press-agents and writers, that it is even difficult to procure the
publication of a protest or a reply. Indeed, were it my habit to go
into personal matters, I could offer ample proof of this contention,
that the opponents of naval expansion are cleverly shut out of the
press altogether.

Wilhelmshafen, the naval station on the North Sea, has been fortified
till it is said to be impregnable; the same has been done for
Heligoland, and the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser have also been
strongly fortified. At Kiel are the naval technical school, an
arsenal, and dry and floating docks, and the canal itself is being
widened and deepened to meet the needs of the largest ships of war.

When it is remembered that the beginnings of all this date back only
to 1898, when the first navy bill was passed through the Reichstag
with much difficulty, and only after the Emperor and his ministers had
brought every influence to bear upon the members, Germany is certainly
to be congratulated upon her success. Nor is she to be blamed for
remembering, and regretting, that the two most important harbors used
by her trade are Antwerp and Rotterdam, the one in Belgium, the other
in Holland.

The Kielerwoche, or Kiel Regatta, has grown from the sailing-matches
of a few small yachts into one of the best-managed, most picturesque,
and gayest yachting weeks in the world. Indeed, from the stand-point
of hospitality, orderliness, imposing array of shipping, and good